"It's official! Oh, I'm so excited!" Alice said as she bounced around the living room of the house. The guests were coming in from outside to check out the reception. I gave a sigh of relief when I felt Edward pull me aside, hiding us in the curve of the large staircase.
"When can we get out of here?" I asked anxiously wrapping my arms around his neck.
"Just a little longer, you know Alice would never forgive us if we left now." He murmured in my ear.
"Hmph" I muttered as he put his hand under my chin to pull my face upwards so that he could see my eyes.
"Bella, love, you look amazingly, breathtakingly, beautiful." He whispered, kissing me again.
"You don't look half bad yourself, Mr. Cullen" I said kissing him back.
"That's where you two went!" Alice said chipper. "Carlisle is ready to make his speech to the bride and groom!" She said happily grabbing Edward's arm and pulling us back out into the open.
Carlisle was very good at giving speeches, almost too good. Knowing just when to start, stop, and when his audience had had enough. Unfortunately, Charlie wasn't as polished, but the sentiment was there.
I couldn't believe it was over. All the planning, phone calls, ten trips to Seattle, three trips to Portland, and countless promises from Alice about not going overboard and it was all over. I couldn't take my eyes off Edward. I had seen him dressed up for the prom he dragged me to, but today he was almost unbearably handsome. The three piece suit he wore fit in all the right places, the dark gray fabric complimenting his pale skin. He must have felt me ogling him, as he looked up and met my eyes. Jessica was rambling in my ear about how beautiful everything was, and how Forks was never going to top it. All I could see was Edward, though, standing there as Emmett and Carlisle talked his ear off about something I couldn't hear. Honestly, how much longer did this reception have to last? When could I have him all to myself? I thought selfishly.
Two hours later, the large living room of the Cullen house was nearly empty.
"Let's get out of here." Edward whispered in my ear as I felt his arms wind around my waist from behind. I smiled and looked at him.
"Are we allowed to?" I joked lightly.
"I think Alice will understand." He said. "She is actually surprised we stayed this long."
"Where are we going anyway?" I asked looking up at him. He smiled crookedly at me before speaking.
"That is a secret." He said "Go change and I'll meet you in the garage." He winked and left.
Upstairs in Alice's room I took a second, looking again in the full length mirror. I'm really married. Edward is really my husband. I'm really his wife...forever. Now if I can just get him to hold up his end of this crazy bargain we have going on. Changing out of the dress and into my jeans and t-shirt was harder then I thought. Alice seemed to know she was needed and suddenly appeared behind me, already undoing the buttons in the back.
"I don't understand why you're trying to be so careful."
"Well, you have to preserve the dress, Bella!" She said shocked that I didn't know.
"Preserve the dress?" I asked wide eyed.
"Don't worry. Rosalie has preserved twenty of her favorites over the years. She knows what she's doing." Alice said confidently.
"Oh, well, as long as she knows what she's doing." I said sarcastically. "Edward is waiting in the garage for me you know." I was getting impatient.
"He's waited 108 years; he can wait five more minutes."
"ALICE!" I half shrieked embarrassed.
"What? It's your wedding night. It's expected." She calmly replied.
"Oh, god" I said turning bright red.
"Ok, you're all set." She took the dress and put in the garment bag in her closet. I was actually almost sad to see it go.
After changing into my normal uniform of old jeans and a t-shirt I was ready to go. I slipped into the garage to find Edward leaning up against the Vanquish. The three piece suit was replaced by his usual dark wash jeans and button up shirt. His arms were crossed across his chest and he was staring almost wistfully out of the open garage door. I almost hated to disturb him when he was so deep in thought.
"I hope you haven't been waiting very long." I said quietly. He smiled and opened up the passenger door.
"I figured it would take some time. Ready?" He held his hand out for me.
"Trying to be a show off are we?" I asked when I got in.
"It's our honeymoon, a bit of showing off is allowed." He said laughing.
"Where are we going?" I asked again as he sat in the driver's seat.
"It's a secret." He replied again, giving me a crooked smile. As we drove out of the garage I noticed the Cullens standing on the front lawn waving goodbye. I waved back as a strange sense of accomplishment washed over me. I sat back in the seat and sighed with relief.
"Tired?" Edward asked looking at me sideways.
"A little bit. Actually I was thinking more about how I survived today with no major accidents." Edward laughed softly as he hit a hundred on the freeway.
"You're not even going to give me a hint as to where we're going are you?" I asked again.
"Nope," he said "why don't you go to sleep. We'll be there soon enough."
"With the way you drive I'm surprised we're not there already." I tried to get more comfortable in the leather seat; I put my head against the window and closed my eyes.
"Time to wake up, Mrs. Cullen." I heard Edward whisper in my ear.
"Where are we?" I asked hoping in vain that he would tell me. As my eyes adjusted I looked at the nearest sign. "The airport? Oh Edward, how romantic" I joked.
"Just a stop along the way" He winked at me. "C'mon, we have a plane to catch."
By the time we got to wherever it was we were going, I was going to be too exhausted for a wedding night. The thought of that made the blood rush to my cheeks again.
"I would give anything to know what's making you blush right now." He said slyly.
"Shut up" I snapped.
After boarding the plane and settling into first class, I grabbed Edward's hand tried to give him the biggest puppy eyes I could. "So, you made sure I have no idea where this plane is going, the flight attendants thought you were kidnapping me when you blindfolded me. Think maybe now you could tell me where we are going?" I asked sweetly.
"I hate it when you look at me that way." He said giving me my favorite crooked smile. "I'm still not telling you where we're going. You'll find out soon enough."
"Ugh" I muttered throwing my head into the back of the seat.
"Relax, enjoy the flight, we'll be there by morning." Edward said lightly.
"I don't want to relax and enjoy the flight; I want to know where we are going." I humph-ed as loudly as I could.
"Bella, love, relax" As much as I hated it, sleep was needed. The nap in the car hadn't been long enough. I leaned into Edward's shoulder and closed my eyes. I felt him put a blanket around my shoulders before I drifted off into dreamland.